The Einstein of Sex
1999 film by Rosa von Praunheim
The Einstein of Sex (also known as: The Einstein of Sex – Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld, German title: Der Einstein des Sex) is a 1999 German film by Rosa von Praunheim. The plot follows the life of the Jewish doctor, sexologist, and gay socialist Magnus Hirschfeld.
The film was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and at the São Paulo International Film Festival in 2000, among others.
Plot
Magnus Hirschfeld made a name for himself as a co-founder of sexology and a founder of the first gay rights organization in 1897. In the film, three of Hirschfeld's closest friends are portrayed: Baron Hermann von Teschenberg (with whom Hirschfeld shares a complicated romance), aide Karl Giese, and Dora "Dörchen" Richter. They establish the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin in 1919 and try to keep the institute open during the rise of the Third Reich in the early 1930s. Hirschfeld even gave lectures in the USA while the Nazis condemned his educational work. The Nazis destroyed the Institut in 1933, sending Hirschfeld into permanent exile in France.
Cast
Friedel von Wangenheim as Dr.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Einstein of Sex” is 1999 film by Rosa von Praunheim. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Einstein, film and Rosa, not as a finished interpretation.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q874050. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2000, 1897 and 1919.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Einstein of Sex” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.